Phantom

Chapter 7: Automobile
Day’s passed and I haven’t heard a word from Lawren since the Green Lake incident. I wondered if he went back to not talking to me again. An inevitable fact was that sooner or later I’d have to go see if he was alright. I rather procrastinate a bit and pick later.
“What’re we going to do today?” I asked Nathan as I played with a daisy that was sticking out of the lawn.
We were sitting in my backyard for we had just finished our breakfast picnic with Nathan’s specialty-crepes.
“I was thinking about taking you car shopping,“ he said with a shrug. “How does that sound?”
“Car shopping?” I squealed. “That sounds great! But… it won’t really be car shopping if I don’t get to buy the car today.”
“Like I said before, I’ll buy the car for you,” he said indifferently like buying me a car was like buying me a candy bar.
“And I’ll pay you back once my share of the Ashburton fortune is released,” I added.
“You’ll pay half,” he corrected.
I rolled my eyes.
Nathan and I brought everything back inside and got into his car to start going car shopping.
“Where to first?” He asked as he backed out of my driveway.
“I’m not very good at choosing out car so why don’t you surprise me?”
“Surprise it is!”
Nathan put his arm around my chair and looked at me and smiled.
“Are you looking for any car in particular?” He asked.
“I’ve always had a thing for convertibles.”
“And why convertibles?”
“When I was young I used to watch these TV shows where a group of friends lived near the beach in California and they had convertibles and it looked like a lot of fun having the wind blow through your hair and the sun coming down on me.”
“Kind of like when you ride in my arms?”
“Kind of. Except my eyes will be open.”
Nathan chuckled. “They better be.”
When he crossed the Lake Washington bridge and passed by Mercer Island, I suspected we were driving to Bellevue which meant the cars we would be seeing would have to be expensive, shiny, new cars. I moaned and Nathan chuckled lightly.
Nathan turned a corner and entered Land Rover of Bellevue.
“A Range Rover?” I asked when Nathan parked. “That’s a little too… off road for me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being safe.”
“True. But it’s a big car for a girl like me.”
“Are you sure you don’t want a Range Rover?”
“Very,” I said and laughed.
“Alright then,” he sighed and backed out of the parking space.
“And in plus, Land Rover don’t carry convertibles,” I added.
“So you have your mind set on a convertible,” Nathan mused.
It didn’t take too long for Nathan to drive into the Lexus parking lot.
“Do you see any you like?” Nathan asked as he drove around the parking lot.
“How am I supposed to know? We’re just looking at them.”
“Just find which ever car catches your eye,” he said and shrugged.
“That’s not a very good way to shop for cars but okay.”
He chuckled and continued to drive around the lot.
After our fourth round, there was still no car that caught my eye. “There’s a lot of nice cars here but none of them are my dream car.”
“That’s fine!”
We drove out of the Lexus parking lot to head to our next destination.
“Do you want to check out the BMW’s?” Nathan asked. I guessed he was done with surprising me since we were driving from shop to shop and I didn’t like any of the past cars so now he had to ask.
“Nah. BMW’s are kind of overrated.” Did I really just say that? I thought to myself.
I felt somewhat guilty but happy at the same time. Nathan told me to not let the money get to my head but I just denied Lexus’s, Land Rover’s and BMW’s. I was happy because now I got to choose top of the line unlike before when it was always “take what you can get”. Well, everyone had their moments of indulgence and this was mine.
We ended up at Mercedes Benz of Bellevue. Right when we entered it felt as if I was going to drool. I knew my dream car was here somewhere.
“Do you see anything you like?” Nathan asked as he drove around the lot again.
“Can I get out this time?” I asked.
“Sure.”
We hoped out of the car once Nathan parked it. Like always, he came around the back and took my hand.
As we walked around the lot I swiftly turned my head back and forth to find the car that would soon be mine like I had a case of paranoia.
“Do you two need any help?” A sales person asked from behind us. He looked bored.
“We’re just looking around,” Nathan responded.
The sales person turned around and trudged away and went back into the building.
My mouth dropped opened from what I saw in the glass window.
“What is it?” Nathan asked me with a smile.
“That car!” I squealed.
“Do you want to go check it out?”
I nodded my head vigorously and ran to the building leaving Nathan behind. I swung open the door and ran to the pearly white car and ran my fingers across the hood.
“Is this it?” Nathan asked and laughed.
“It’s beautiful,” I sighed. “What kind of car is it?”
Nathan looked at the paper with all the details of the car. “Its… a CLK550 Cabriolet.”
“It even sounds beautiful!” I crooned.
“Do you want to try it out?” Nathan asked.
“Test drive it?!”
Nathan chuckled. “It’s in the building. How’re you going to test drive it? I meant go inside to see if it’s right for you.”
“I don’t need to go inside to see if it’s right for me,” I said but got into the car anyways. Just sitting in the tan leather seats gave me goosebumps. I adjusted the mirror so I was able to see myself driving it.
Nathan got into the passenger side and stared at me while I made faces in the mirror.
I gasped. “It even has that keyless start button! And an electronic trunk opener and closer!” I said while marveling at the technology.
“It’s sixty-four thousand, eight hundred dollars,” Nathan said looked back at the paper.
My mouth dropped open.
“Why do you have that face?” He asked and laughed. “It’s not that expensive when you have the money.”
“You’re right…. But I feel bad.”
“Why do you feel bad?”
“Well… I haven’t mentioned the fortune to my family and when they see me ride home in this car…. What am I going to say?”
“We don’t have to buy it today. You probably should tell your family about the fortune now just so they can get a chance to… adjust.”
“We’re not buying my baby today,” I sighed and hugged the wheel.
“Do you want to leave now or do you want a couple more minutes with your baby before we leave it?” Nathan asked and snickered.
“A couple more minutes, please.”